3B Travis Mattair, the Phillies 2nd round pick in the 2007 draft has made a decision to return to the baseball diamond after a one year “retirement”.  Excellent work over at http://www.phoulballz.com in picking up the story and interviewing Mattair.  Mattair, who is soon to be 22, spent both 2008 and 2009 in Lakewood and hit .236/.326/.333 in a disappointing 2009 campaign. In 450 AB’s, Mattair had 3 HR and 39 RBI to go along with 12 SB.

Mattair has placed himself behind the eight ball underperforming in 2009 and then with his self-imposed exile (trying to earn some minutes on the Boise State basketball team) last year, however, with that being said, he is a player who the Phils put a good deal of stock into at one point.  It should be interesting to see what Mattair can do to earn a minor league roster spot in 2011 after a full year away from the game.